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ALEXEI KREMNEV (President/Director A&A BALLET) As the founding Artistic Director of The Joffrey Academy of Dance and the Joffrey Studio Company (2009-2016), Alexei Kremnev brought a reputation to the Academy as one of the most innovative and fast-growing dance organizations worldwide. The Joffrey Academy was the third organization where Mr. Kremnev stimulated substantial financial and artistic success as an Artistic Director: Previously, he was the Artistic Director of the Evansville Dance Theatre and Southold Dance Theatre, respectively, between 2003-2009.

He began his career in Moscow at the world famous Bolshoi Ballet Academy (Degree of Ballet Artist), the Russian Academy of Theatrical Art (GITIS), and the Moscow State Academy of Choreography (Degree in Pedagogy and Choreography). Either as a Principal Artist, Choreographer or Teacher, he has worked internationally with the Moscow Festival Ballet (Russian National Ballet), England's Northern Ballet Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, BalletMet, Tulsa Ballet, and the Russian and European Stars of the Ballet. Mr. Kremnev received superlative reviews in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Dance Magazine for the leading roles he danced. He is the Laureate of the Leonide Massine Award, the Nureyev International and Lifar International Ballet Competition. Among the legendary teachers Mr. Kremnev studied with, there are two who influenced his teaching philosophy the most: Eleonora Vlasova was a great ballerina and a laureate of the Paris Academy of Dance Award for her achievements in ballet, and German Pribilov, who studied with the great Alexander Pushkin, a teacher of Rudolph Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. 

Mr. Kremnev has been featured on PBS Holiday Specials Love is Here to Stay and A Family Thanksgiving. He has been praised for his extraordinary ability to work with a young generation of dancers, as well as for his original, creative choreography. Mr. Kremnev’s choreography was presented at the legendary Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 2004-2006, Lincoln Center in New York in 2015, and the Opernhaus Zurich in 2016. He received the Outstanding Choreographer Award at Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) in 2006, 2007, 2009, and the Outstanding Teacher Award in 2017. His works have been successfully performed in collaborations with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra.

In 2001, Mr. Kremnev was recognized as one of the Most Influential People in the Arts in Cincinnati and was elected to the Advisory Board on Eastern Europe for Illinois Senator, Mark Kirk in 2011. Under his leadership, the Southold Dance Theatre was named Outstanding School at YAGP in 2008, and the Joffrey Academy of Dance claimed the same title at YAGP every year they participated in 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016.  Mr. Kremnev's artistic vision was essential in the creation and success of the Gala of the International Ballet Stars in Cincinnati, Children's Ballet Theatre Series, and Winning Works: Choreographers of Color at The Joffrey Ballet. In 2013, Mr. Kremnev received the Achievement Award in Culture from the Chicago Sister Cities International (CSCI), and the Business Leaders Award from the American Councils for International Education and Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the United States Department of State in 2017. He created sixteen new works at the Joffrey. 

His thorough knowledge of the most current teaching methods and styles has produced many dancers who have been accepted into some of the most prestigious companies in the world, including The Joffrey Ballet, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Staatsoper Berlin, Dresden Semperoper, Norwegian National Ballet, Polish National Ballet, Estonian National Ballet, New Zealand Royal Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Alberta Ballet, Les Grands Ballet Canadiens, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Met, Kansas City Ballet, Pittsburg Ballet Theatre, Sarasota Ballet, Ballet San Jose, Tulsa Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Dortmund Ballet, Complexions and many others.